Spring Valley Caverns


Cave Farm Underground Features


Even though formations in the cave don't grow until well after the cave's development, they are still ancient.  A formation from a nearby cave was analyzed to be 350,000 years old!

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Soda Straw

Spring Valley Caverns I

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer 		Calcite Formations
Spring Valley Caverns I

Spring Valley Caverns I Click for larger view
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer

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Photo by John Ackerman

Formations
Spring Valley Caverns I

Calcite Rafts
Spring Valley Caverns I 		Click for larger view
Photo by John Ackerman

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer 		Deep Crevice
Spring Valley Caverns I

Fossils
Lower level of Ackerman's Cave 		Click for larger view
Photo by John Ackerman

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Photo by John Ackerman

Fossils
Lower level of Ackerman's Cave


Mega Pit
The deepest pit on the Cave Farm
Ackerman's Cave 		Click for larger view
Photo by John Ackerman

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer 		Unique formation
Spring Valley Caverns I

Fossil in
Spring Valley Caverns I 		Click for larger view
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer		 Huge shield formation
Spring Valley Caverns I

The Bar Room
Spring Valley Caverns I 		Click for larger view
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer

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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer		 Fossil in wall
Spring Valley Caverns I

Spring Valley Caverns I Click for larger view
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer

Pristine wall flow
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Massive Drapery Flow
  These speleothems consist mainly of calcite, the same material that makes up the wall and ceiling rock of limestone caves.  The calcite is dissolved from limestone above the cave by slightly acidic water percolating downward from the surface.  Minuet traces are left behind after every drop and gradually the speleothem becomes larger and larger.  Sometimes other minerals such as iron are carried along in this water which can result in brilliant red, orange, and burnt-umber colored formations.  Spring Valley Caverns contains some of the highest concentrations of these formations in the state.  This formation is over 20 feet tall!
Spring Valley Caverns I

John Ackerman admires the pristine formations he discovered in the " Volcano Room"
Spring Valley Caverns IV
Huge formations
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Extremely rare formation
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Leaning Tower
Matthew Ackerman alongside Minnesota's largest column. Discovery by John Ackerman and Dave Gerboth in 1990.
Spring Valley Caverns II


Cathedral Hall
An incredibly huge passage in Spring Valley Caverns IV that John Ackerman discovered in 1993
Cathedral hall
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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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The Spiggot
located in Spring Valley Caverns III

The Colossal Room, in Spring Valley Caverns III
The largest room under the Cave Farm
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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Angel of Light
Spring Valley Caverns IV

The Lost River
Spring Valley Caverns III
Cathedral hall
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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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The Lost River
Spring Valley Caverns III


An astonishing natural calcite pictograph at eye level along the main passage of the "Sun Room" in Spring Valley Caverns II
Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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Photo by Allen & Chris Lewerer
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Chris Lewerer
Culvert entry passage to Spring Valley Caverns III

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